Abbott fires inspector general for moonlighting as Iraq consultant

Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen appears on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Feb. 2, 2009, before the Wartime Contracting Commission hearing into his account of the Bush administration's blunders in post-war reconstruction efforts. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen...

AUSTIN - The state inspector general responsible for ensuring the integrity of one of the state's largest public agencies was fired by the governor amid revelations he was doubling as a consultant for the government of Iraq, which successfully sought to pull the country from the Trump administration's travel ban, officials confirmed Thursday.

"This was a serious and unacceptable lapse in judgment by Mr. Bowen," said John Wittman, a spokesman for Abbott. "The day the governor was made aware, he took immediate action and asked Mr. Bowen to resign."

Documents obtained by Texas Monthly show Bowen was contracted to begin consulting services Jan. 1. His name appeared repeatedly in February letters from a Washington lobby firm representing Iraq Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi sent to members of the Trump administration.

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The letters, which sought to arrange meetings with other representatives of the prime minister, came after President Donald Trump issued an executive order issuing a travel ban for people from seven majority-Muslim countries, including Iraq.

Weeks later, when Trump issued a new order after his first was halted by the courts, Iraq had been pulled from the list. The remaining countries include Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP, which contracted with Bowen for consulting services, said the former inspector general told the firm his work would not constitute a conflict of interest.

"Before any work started, Brownstein confirmed with Bowen that his employer's ethics adviser said consulting for Brownstein was permissible because it created no conflict with Bowen's work at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission," said Lara Day, a spokeswoman for the firm. She said he did not lobby or provide legal services for Brownstein or its clients, "nor did he work on any efforts to reverse the travel ban."

Moonlighting not disclosed

Attempts to reach Bowen were unsuccessful Thursday, but he told the magazine he consulted with an ethics adviser at HHSC and "fully complied with that advice." He said he was approached to help connect the firm with the governor of the Iraqi Central Bank and for advice on anti-corruption efforts related to the financial services sector.

"I have never worked for Iraq and was not involved in any law firm activities regarding the travel ban issue," he said.

The Texas Ethics Commission did not return calls for comment late Thursday.

HHSC spokeswoman Carrie Williams said Bowen had not disclosed his moonlighting for the Iraqi government until seeing a public information request related to requests for his correspondence.

"We wouldn't approve any outside employment that could be a potential conflict of interest with our work of the state," she said.

Bowen's brief resignation letter did not reference his lobbying efforts for the Iraqi prime minister but instead said he was leaving the department "so that I may pursue new opportunities that are before me."

Bowen was hired by Abbott in early 2015 to operate as a watchdog for the HHSC after former inspector general Doug Wilson resigned amid a no-bid contracting scandal.

Previously, he was working for the federal government to oversee $62 billion used for Iraq's reconstruction, obtaining dozen of convictions, producing hundreds of reports and securing nearly $2 billion in taxpayer benefits, according to the governor's announcement of his appointment little more than a year ago.

In addition to letters stating that Bowen was a senior adviser to the firm, Bowen also appeared in a photograph posted to al-Abadi's Twitter account. It showed them standing next to each other during a United Nations conference on April 6.

Firm name-dropped Bowen

Bowen was a long-time figure in President George W. Bush's administration, both when Bush was governor and president. In Washington, Bowen served several positions during Bush's tenure, including deputy assistant to the president, deputy staff secretary, special assistant to the president and associate counsel.

He later operated as Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction for nearly a decade, from 2004 to 2013 before Abbott appointed him in 2015 to work as Inspector General for HHSC, which oversees about $40 billion in public funds. The office searches for fraud, waste and abuse by performing audits, investigations.

With an office in Washington D.C., Brownstein contracted with Bowen to recommend strategies and tactics related to the firm's contracts with the government of Iraq beginning Jan. 1, 2017, according to documents obtained by the magazine.

While the firm registered with the federal government as a foreign agent in 2016, the firm's deal with Bowen stipulated he would not perform work requiring him to register. The contract outlined he would be paid $300 an hour not to exceed 33 percent of total payments made by the government of Iraq.

The firm repeatedly name-dropped Bowen as a senior adviser to the firm in letters to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly, then-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and others asking for an introductory meeting to discuss challenges in Iraq.